Alexei Dyumin once saved Vladimir Putin from a bear attack (Photo: East2West)

A Russian governor who would succeed Vladimir Putin has set up a training school to teach troops how to carry out drone strikes in Ukraine.

Alexei Dyumin, 50, worked as the deputy chief of the presidential guard and earned his trust by allegedly chasing away a bear that tried to enter the Kremlin leader’s secluded mountain home.

As a former deputy defense minister, in 2014 he secretly led the operation to overthrow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Crimea and bring him to Russia.

Putin, who is reportedly suffering from various health problems, increasingly relies on Dyumin to oversee the movement of military supplies to the front lines in Ukraine.

The Russian propaganda daily RIA FAN has published evidence that a drone school is being set up in the Tula region, where the former bodyguard is governor.

Trained military instructors supervise recruits, who then earn certificates and are sent to Ukraine for intelligence operations.

“Since the beginning of the special military operation, Alexei Dyumin has been in constant contact with the Russian Ministry of Defense and commands the units in which Tula’s reservists serve,” said Maxim Sinyavsky, the local trade minister.

“Soldiers received extra equipment, machines and special equipment.

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“By mastering the skills of handling drones, military personnel can perform their duties with skill.”

Dyumin served as the GRU’s deputy chief of military intelligence and holds the rank of Army lieutenant general.

Putin traveled to Tula last month to visit a weapons factory supervised by the former bodyguard to inspect armored personnel.

Speaking of the bear attack where he saved the Russian president from “certain death,” Dyumin explained how he stared at the animal.

“Of course I was armed, the president was upstairs. So the bear and I looked into each other’s eyes and he stepped back.

“I opened the door and emptied the whole cartridge from my gun under his feet.” He added, “I felt sorry for the bear.”

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